Iraqi anti-terror units managed on Friday to enter into the Qadesiyya neighborhood in the city of Mosul, local media outlets reported.

A security source told Al-Forat News agency the counter-terrorism units are still battling to clear the area from the terrorists of the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) takfiri group.

Earlier on Thursday, commander of the anti-terrorism forces, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Ghani al-Asadi, had confirmed that the security forces have a wide experience in dealing with all methods of ISIL terrorist group, adding that ISIL has lost its fighting spirit since several months after losing many of the occupied areas.

“ISIL cannot withstand before the attacks of the Iraqi security forces,” Asadi stressed.

Iraqi forces launched a wide-scale operation to retake Mosul on October 17, with federal and Kurdish regional forces closing in on the city from three sides.

Pro-government forces later began an advance on the town of Tal Afar, which commands the city’s western approaches, with the goal of cutting the Takfiris off from territory they control in neighboring Syria.